


I Just Need a Little Time

by duchessofthemoonbase



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Ancient Rome, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Only One Bed, Regency, Soulmates, Time Travel, soulmate twist
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-11 06:14:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28346706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/duchessofthemoonbase/pseuds/duchessofthemoonbase
Summary: Rey is the daughter of Luke Skywalker, the time travel engineer responsible for the Kyber Watch device that allows its wearer to travel throughout time and space.She also hasn't found her soulmate. When she believes she's run out of options, she steals a Kyber Watch and decides to search history to locate her elusive other half.—but not if Poe Dameron, her dad’s frustratingly handsome grad student, has anything to do about it.
Relationships: Poe Dameron/Rey
Comments: 37
Kudos: 69
Collections: Damerey Discord Shenanigans





	I Just Need a Little Time

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Olpgurl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Olpgurl/gifts).



> For Olpgurl: Happy Secret Santa! Here's a fic with a soulmate twist, and of course, time travel and regency shenanigans ;)

The dreams didn’t make any sense.

They weren’t the straightforward hints that some of her friends had gotten. Finn had dreamt for months of the coffeeshop downtown where he’d eventually bumped into Rose, and Auntie Leia had dreamt of a shaggy Irish wolfhound for years until she’d finally met his owner. But hers…?

Only one soulmate of the pair got dreams, of course. The dreams were supposed to feel more intense than real dreams, heavy in the way that left you with an emotional hangover when you woke up. There was of course the possibility that she wasn’t the half of the pair that was dreaming, but she knew in her heart what the visions were. She woke up each morning with a heavy sort of yearning in her bones, the kind that made her want to go out searching—searching for the person she belonged with.

“I’m just…frustrated,” she said, lying across her bed as she talked to Finn on the phone. “It was so easy for you. All you had to do was hang out sipping cappuccinos in that cafe until Rose walked in.”

“Where did you go in your dream this time?”

“14th century China. And the day before that it was Victorian Scotland.”

Finn sighed. “Do you think this has something to do with your dad’s work? Is his equipment…I don’t know, interfering with your dreams?”

Rey thought it over. Her dad was none other than Luke Skywalker, the man who had become world famous for developing a portable time-travel device—the Kyber Watch. His research was so new, so unprecedented, that no one had ever considered any sort of side effects—but she supposed it was possible.

Not that she was allowed to time travel. That was strictly forbidden.

“Look,” Rey said. “Soulmate dreams are supposed to help you find the person. And it could mean…well…”

“You really think your soulmate is from the past?”

“What other explanation is there?” Rey said. She groaned and planted her face in her pillow. “I’m never going to figure this out.”

“You sound grumpy, peanut,” Finn said. “Let me guess, _he’s_ there again, isn’t he?”

“Yes,” she grumbled.

“I think it’s nice that your dad has good relationships with his grad students.”

“I don’t. I don’t get why he always has to be humming old rock songs or telling my dad corny jokes or studying at one a.m. or—”

“Your dad’s grad students have always hung out at your house. You’ve never had a problem with it before.”

“He’s different,” Rey said. “He’s just so… _ugh.”_

“If you say so,” Finn said. “I gotta go, peanut. But I hope you figure something out with the dream thing.”

“Me too.”

Rey hung up her phone and stared up at the ceiling. She was getting exhausted. She was tired of watching everyone she knew find their soulmate while she was stuck by herself, continually puzzled by her dreams. She didn’t know if she could take it anymore.

She trampled down to the kitchen, hoping to find some junk food to calm her down. Of course, going to the kitchen ran the risk of running into _him,_ but the thought of chips and cookies was too good to resist right now. She flung open the pantry door and pulled out the snack tray, finding it completely barren.

“Hey.”

Rey turned around to see Poe Dameron finishing off a box of Oreos. “Hi Poe,” she seethed, glaring at him.

“What’s up?” he asked. He was casually sitting on the counter, highlighting sections of a book.

“Nothing much,” Rey said, hoping he would pick up on the annoyance in her tone. “I was just looking for a snack.”

“Cool,” Poe said, pushing his glasses up on his nose.

Rey rolled her eyes in frustration as he continued flipping through the book. “I _said,”_ she exhaled deeply. “I was looking for a snack.”

He pushed the box of Oreos toward her.

Rey examined the box and scowled. “This is empty,” she said, flinging it in the trash.

“Oops, sorry. Rough day?”

“It’s none of your business.”

Poe sighed and walked over to her side of the kitchen. He wore a gray tank top that showed off his arms and a pair of sweatpants that were a bit too tight not to be distracting—not that Rey was looking, of course. “Well you’re kind of acting like you’re waiting for an invitation to rant about something,” Poe noted.

“Don’t psychoanalyze me.”

“Did I do something wrong?”

Rey crossed her arms and sulked. “I don’t know, I don’t understand why you’re always here, studying in the living room and eating all the food in the kitchen; lounging around, sitting on the counters in your…in your _sweatpants_ …”

He laughed. “My sweatpants bother you that much, huh? How would you feel about me switching to khakis?”

“Oh, piss off.”

“Well,” Poe scoffed. “I’ll go read in the lab instead if that would please you, your highness.” He bowed dramatically and grinned at her. Rey rushed out of the room, her face flushing with anger.

 _That man!_ Why did he always have to be so…so… _difficult!_?

Rey went back up to her room and paced in circles, thinking over her conversation with Finn as she tried to walk off her anger.

The dreams were pointing her towards the past. And she was one of the few people on earth who could access it.

I mean, _technically_ she wasn’t allowed to touch anything in her father’s lab, _but—_

She had to find her soulmate. The rules be damned.

***

Rey smiled as she watched her dad pull out of the driveway. Luke Skywalker was spending the weekend away at an academic conference the next city over, and she would finally be alone.

Alone with a Kyber Watch.

It wasn’t as if she was going into this blind. She’d listened to her dad talk about his theories for hours, and she’d done her research. The translator device was activated so she could communicate with anyone she encountered, and she had a backpack full of supplies, appropriate currency, and survival equipment in case anything went wrong. She’d sneak into the lab, jump around to a few of the times and places that appeared most frequently in her dreams, and then be back before her dad returned from his conference. Luke would never know.

Rey grinned as she ran down the stairs and opened the door to her father’s laboratory. It could finally happen. She could meet her soulmate today.

She beamed when she saw the Kyber Watches glowing in their glass cases. They looked like a much bulkier, more metallic version of a regular watch, with a a glowing purple crystal at the center.All she had to do was program the coordinates and she was good to go.

The biggest jump should be first, she decided. Why not? This was go big or go home.

Rey’s heart raced as she unlocked the glass case and strapped the watch to her wrist. She muttered as she programed the coordinates, trying to push away her nerves. Ancient Rome, 64 A.D. She could do this. All she had to do was…

“What the hell are you doing!?”

Rey jumped. Poe Dameron was standing behind her, completely furious.

_Shit._

“What are _you_ doing here?” she asked. “My dad’s away at a conference.”

“I _know_ ,” he said. “That’s why he gave me a bunch of research to work on while he’s away.” He circled around to where she was standing and glared at her. “The bigger question, however, is why you have a Kyber Watch on your wrist.”

“It’s none of your business, Poe.”

“You know I have to tell your dad about this, right?” he said. “Time travel isn’t for fun. It’s serious research, not to mention still extremely dangerous. It’s not _Bill & Ted,_ Rey. Take it off—right now.”

“No,” she snapped. She was so sick of him. Sick of his smug attitude and the way he was always waltzing in and out of her house like he owned the place. She’d be glad to pop off to another time for a bit; a peaceful world that had not yet encountered the menace that was Poe Dameron.

“I’m serious, Rey. You could die, or get so lost we’d never find you again. It’s not worth it.”

He was probably right, of course. But her dignity felt a little more important right now. She wasn’t going to listen to him and then have him tattle on her to her dad for nothing.

She slammed her hand down on the watch.

“Rey! No—!”

***

Rey squinted into the sun as she steadied herself, bracing her hands against the warm and dusty ground. There had been a flash followed by a feeling of weightlessness, that swoop in the stomach one gets when driving over a bump too fast.

She looked around as she caught her breath. She was in some sort of alleyway with a bunch of chickens pecking around in the corners. Once Rey steadied herself, she walked to the end of the alley and peeked around the building to see a bustling main road, one crowded with people wearing togas.

 _Holy shit—_ it had actually worked. She’d traveled back nearly two thousand years.

Rey leaned back against the wall and tried her best to take it all in. But what now? How would she find her soulmate here? She couldn’t exactly pull up Ancient Roman Tinder.

But before Rey could form a plan, she was distracted by a faint blue glow hovering a few feet away from her, a sort of electric sizzle in the air. The blue vortex hummed and sparked violently until finally, unfortunately, it spat out Poe Dameron.

He lay sprawled out on the ground, catching his breath.

“No,” Rey groaned. “You have _got_ to be kidding me.”

“You think I _wanted_ to follow you here!?” Poe started to yell, before remembering to lower his voice. “I’m not the one who was stupid enough to mess around with a Kyber watch!”

She scoffed. “And I’m sure you followed me here because you care about my safety _so_ much.”

Poe grunted as he stood up and brushed the dust from his knees. “You really think Luke would keep me on as his research assistant if I let something happen to you?”

Rey raised an eyebrow. “I suppose not.”

There was a tense silence as they faced each other.

“Alright then,” Poe said. “Can we just agree this was a mistake and go home now?”

“No,” Rey said, already walking away. “I have business here.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Poe snarked, running after her. “I didn’t know you had errands to run two thousand years ago.”

“It’s none of your concern,” she snapped. “Leave me alone.”

“You have no idea of what you’re dealing with here, okay?” Poe insisted. He snuck behind the back of a woman with a laundry basket and pulled out two togas. “For example, did you even think about costumes?”

Rey grimaced. “I was going to find something once I got here.”

“Uh huh. Sure.”

They pulled the togas on over their clothes and walked out onto the street, both of them suddenly so dumbfounded by the history around them that they forgot their animosity for a moment.

“I thought it’d be different,” Rey observed. “I thought it’d be less…”

“Real?” Poe asked. “History’s a bit more of a shock when you process that these are people and not just figures in watercolor paintings.”

He was right. The people here were so… _ordinary._ In different clothes, the people here could be interchangeable with the crowds walking around a mall back home. It was disconcerting to see how human these people acted—how the people shopped and bartered, how the children played in the streets. It was strange to think of them as being so far removed from her own time.

“So um,” Poe said, ducking behind a man carrying a large basket of vegetables. “Where exactly are we going?”

Rey walked faster.

Poe raised an eyebrow. “You don’t know, do you.”

“Of course I know,” Rey said, following a mass of people into a building. “We’re going in there.”

“And what’s in there, exactly?”

“Shut up.”

They followed a crowd of people into a large villa set off from the side of the road. Everyone wasdressed in togas that looked far nicer than the ones they stole, with accents of gold and purple and bracelets dangling on their wrists.

“Whatever this is,” Poe said. “We’re going to get kicked out.”

“No we won’t” Rey assured him. “Just act like you know what you’re doing.”

They entered a large open area, a garden littered with statues and topiaries. There were tables filled with food and cups of wine, and the visitors were already helping themselves.

“See?” Rey said. “It’s just a party.”

“And what are we supposed to small talk with these people about? The last season of _Game of Thrones?”_

“If these people are already as wasted as they look, why not.”

Poe sighed and grabbed a cup of wine. They took seats on a nearby bench, watching the festivities with fascination.

“Okay,” he said. “I’m going to need you to be honest with me now.”

“About what?”

“You know what,” Poe said. “Why are you here? No one risks a trip like this without good reason. You have to know how unstable this technology is at its current stage. You could have died.”

“Fine,” Rey said. “But you have to promise not to laugh.”

“I’ll try my best.”

Rey took a large sip of her wine. “I’ve been having soulmate dreams for the last few years—strong ones. But they’re not like the ones everyone else has. They’re always…spread out across space and time.”

“Ah,” Poe said. “So you thought the dreams might be telling you your soulmate is from the past?”

“Yeah,” she sighed. “I know, it’s silly.”

“It’s not silly,” he said. “I’ve always wanted to have soulmate dreams, but I’ve never had any. If I did though…I’d go to great lengths to find that person. I get it.”

“Maybe you’re the half of the pair that doesn’t get the dreams. There’s a fifty-fifty chance.”

“I hope that’s it,” Poe said. “But I think its more likely that I’m just meant to be alone.”

“Don’t say that.”

“No, its probably true. I’m too much of a pain in the ass to have a soulmate.”

“That’s not—”

“Don’t bother lying to me,” Poe said. “You’re always reminding me of how obnoxious I am.”

“Yes but I don’t…I don’t _mean_ it,” Rey admitted, suddenly feeling ashamed. “I mean, I get annoyed when you have the tv blaring C-SPAN at 2 am when I’m trying to sleep, but not like….not like that.”

A silence stretched on between them until Poe interrupted, straightening himself up with a determined look in his eyes. “Okay then. We need a plan.”

“A plan?”

“To find your man. It’s a party. You should mingle a bit. The translation field seems to be working just fine so far. Go introduce yourself.”

“I’m going to need a second glass of that wine for that.”

“Fair enough,” Poe said, passing her one.

Rey chugged down the drink and looked around the room. “Who looks like a good prospect?”

“The people seem to be crowding around someone in there,” Poe said, pointing inside the villa. “We should check it out.”

They walked inside, following the movement of the guests until they reached a mob of people crowded around a sofa. Whoever was sitting on it was commanding everyone’s attention, and was also completely blocked from view.

“Who is that?” Poe asked a woman standing near him.

She laughed at him drunkenly. “You’re a funny one,” she said, giggling and placing a hand on his arm. “This man,” she announced to her small group of friends. “Pretends to not know he is in the presence of Emperor Nero!”

Poe jumped up in excitement and turned back to Rey with an delighted grin. “Okay, but _what if—”_

“No,” she insisted. “ _No_.”

“How do you know it’s not him? Come on!”

“Poe, we can’t just—”

“Excuse me!” A voice boomed from the background, and suddenly the room went quiet. “Is there a young lady here who I’ve not been introduced to yet?”

The crowd parted, and Rey found herself face to face with a young man lounging on a chaise. He looked to be in his mid-twenties. He had a painfully smug expression on his face, as if he had never been told no in his life. He gestured for Rey to come closer.

“Come here,” he said. “Let us get to know each other.”

Rey sat down next to him on the chaise, and all the crowd dispersed except for Poe. “So,” Nero asked. “You must be visiting, my dear. Where are you from?”

She froze. “Um…Pompeii.”

“A lovely city,” he responded.

Poe cleared his throat in the corner, as if to say: _It won’t be for much longer._

“I’m Rey,” she said, bowing her head. “And this is my friend Poe.”

“Ah,” Nero said, giving Poe a quick nod of acknowledgment and then turning away. “Now, my dear, let me explain to you how I’ve set up these gardens…”

Rey watched as Poe wandered off, taking another glass of wine. Nero droned on, flirtatiously touching her arm as he spoke. He talked endlessly about his gardens and wines and building plans. Rey never thought she’d be tempted to fall sleep in the presence of a famous historical figure, but it was certainly getting to that point.

“Your friend…” Nero said, looking toward Poe and pulling her out of her stupor. “Is he more than that to you? A lover, perhaps?”

Rey laughed. “No. Absolutely not. Why do you ask?”

“He looks quite despondent in the corner over there, nursing his wine,” Nero observed. “Every time I lean in close to you the fire of jealousy seems to ignite in his eyes.”

“It’s not like that at all,” Rey said. “We’re not even very fond of each other.”

“I don’t believe you,” Nero said teasingly. “ _Watch.”_

Nero pulled her into his arms and began to lace his fingers through the loose strands of her hair. “Look,” he whispered in her ear. “Here he comes now.”

Sure enough, Poe was already making his way over, his face flushed from the wine or perhaps something else. “Rey? Is everything good?”

“Of course it is,” Nero said with a sly expression. “I was just wondering if I could persuade your beautiful friend to spend the night with me.”

Poe’s eyes widened. “Um—”

Nero giggled and whispered in her ear. “Look how furious he is. He clearly desires you…”

Poe coughed. “Rey, we have to um…we have to do that thing now, remember?”

“Ah,” Rey said. “Of course.” She bowed to Nero. “It was a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Emperor.”

“The pleasure is all mine,” he said, winking at Rey, and she only just caught Poe rolling his eyes.

Rey laughed uproariously as they walked out of the villa back into the streets. The day was still hot but the wind had picked up, blowing their togas around their ankles. “Well that was fun,” she said. “Don’t think Nero’s my soulmate though. He’s a bit ridiculous.”

“He also dies at thirty, so enjoy him while you can,” Poe snapped.

Rey watched as he kicked at the dust at his feet. He did seem a little pissed off—but that didn’t mean it was because he was _jealous._

“Are you hungry?” Rey asked. “I brought snacks.”

“Sure.”

They turned down a small back alley, sitting down in the dust as Rey rifled through her backpack. “I have marshmallows.”

Poe looked stunned. “Of all the emergency food you could have packed, _marshmallows!?_ No nutritional value _and_ a blatant anachronism?”

“Yes,” Rey said. “ _And_ chocolate and graham crackers, of course. I figured that since the past always has fires lit, it’s the perfect place for s’mores.”

“I can’t tell if that’s incredibly stupid or incredibly genius.”

“Let’s go with genius,” Rey said with a wink. There wasn’t a fire lit, so she pulled a box of matches from her backpack and made a small fire with some scrap paper. “There,” she said. “That should do.”

Poe smiled at her as they speared marshmallows on sticks and roasted them over the small fire. “You know,” he sighed, looking out at the street. “This isn’t exactly how I planned this day going.”

“You weren’t planning to roast marshmallows in 64 A.D?”

“Not really, no.” He smiled at her bashfully. “But I didn’t expect to spend it with you, either.”

Rey laughed as she squished a marshmallow between two crackers. “What do you mean?”

“I mean,” Poe said. “You never seem interested in spending time with me. Or even talking to me, for that matter.”

Rey stared down at the ground. He wasn’t…he wasn’t _wrong._ But why? What was it about Poe Dameron that made her detest him so much?

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I didn’t…I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.”

“It’s okay, I mean…I guess if I had a stranger in my space all the time I’d get annoyed too.”

“Poe—”

“It’s fine,” he said, ready to change the subject. “Did you want to keep looking in Rome?”

Rey sighed as she broke off another square of chocolate. “I don’t know,” she said. “I just don’t get it. I know the dreams are supposed to lead me in the right direction, but—”

“—but they’re leading you in every direction at once.”

“Exactly,” she said. “Even the Romans don’t have time to meet everyone in this city.”

“Is there another place you were planning to go?”

“Yes,” Rey said, looking at her feet. “Regency England.”

Poe laughed. “Of course.”

“ _Of course?”_

“I mean, it’s so predictable,” Poe said. “You’re expecting to show up and all of a sudden Colin Firth is going to emerge from a lake dripping wet.”

Rey elbowed him. “The dreams are telling me this, okay? I have no control over them.”

“Uh huh.”

“Whatever,” Rey said. “Will you help me? One last time? Please.”

“Fine,” Poe said, helping her put the s’mores stuff away. “One last trip. But after that, we’re going back home. We’ve caused too much trouble al—”

They both noticed at the same time: the fire from their s’mores break had spread to a nearby bushel of hay, and was already climbing up the building next to it.

“Oh god,” Poe choked out. “It’s on fire.”

“It’s okay,” Rey said. “Stay calm. We just need to, um. Get some water, or something, or—”

“How is it spreading so fast?” Poe gasped out in a panic. “Whole thing’s…on fire…all of it—it’s on fire.”

“Um,” Rey said, frantically looking around. “Maybe we can—”

“Hey!” a voice boomed, and a furious looking man ran out of the building. “Did you do this!?”

“Well,” Poe said. “It’s kind of a funny story, actually, you see—”

“I’ll have you killed for this!” The man screamed.

Rey grabbed Poe’s hand and took off running, and the man began chasing them through the streets. “You pay for this! You’ll pay!” He screeched after them, struggling to catch up.

Rey pulled them into a corner as their pursuer frantically dashed down the wrong street. “We’ve got to get out of here,” she panted. It took her a moment to remember she was still holding Poe’s hand, and dropped it in embarrassment.

“We have to put that fire out!” Poe insisted.

“That’s his problem now.”

Poe pulled his shirtsleeve up and started typing into the watch. “We have to go—now. Did you preprogram these?”

“Yes,” Rey said. “The coordinates are set for Bath, England, 1805.”

“Good enough for me,” Poe said, and they slammed their hands down on the watches.

***

They had the good fortune, this time, to land in a bed.

Rey groaned as she sat up and saw Poe sprawled on the mattress next to her, still looking dizzy. They seemed to be in a bedroom, simply but elegantly furnished.

“Well,” he said. “At least 1805 looks a little more comfortable.”

“And,” Rey whispered, standing up to swing open a wardrobe. “We’re already near clothes.”

“Are we in someone’s house?”

“Probably,” Rey shrugged. “But better we’re caught sneaking out in Regency wear than caught in togas draped over jeans.”

The wardrobe contained outfits for both a man and a woman; probably a married couple. She pulled out a light pink dress and held it up to her frame. “I think this should do,” she said.

“Do you even know how to put that on?” Poe asked. “Don’t you need like…a hoop skirt or a bustle or something?”

“During the _Regency_? Poe!”

“I’m a scientist, not a fashion historian.”

Rey, on the other hand, was a little more of an expert. She had binged enough period dramas to manage to piece together the stockings and petticoats and stays.

“Don’t look,” she told Poe, and he buried his face in the wardrobe while he looked for pants.

Rey slipped a cotton shift over her head and then fitted the stiff form of the stays around her torso. She tried her best to reach behind her and tie the laces, but it was no use.

“Poe?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you think maybe you could help me with this?”

Poe stepped out from behind the wardrobe in nothing but the pair of breeches he’d found, half naked from the waist up. “Sorry,” he said, embarrassed. “I was in the middle of um—”

“It’s fine,” Rey said, trying her best to keep her eyes up. “I just need help tying my stays.”

“Alright,” Poe said. He walked over and positioned himself behind her, and she shivered as she felt his fingers firm against her back, criss-crossing and tightening the laces.

She held her hair up out of the way as he worked, and she swore she could feel the heat emanating from his body, his gaze burning into her shoulders. Her face flushed. She’d never seen him without a shirt before, and the sight of him standing there, all those hard lines of muscle and tanned forearms—

She stood up straighter. Look, she _knew_ Poe Dameron was hot. She’d always known: it was an objective fact that was tragically beyond her control. She could remember that first day he’d come home with her dad a year ago, how he’d introduced himself and held out his hand, how she’d melted into a puddle with only one look into those warm brown eyes…

Rey scoffed to herself. Just being pretty didn’t excuse you from being…from being…well, _Poe_. That was all before she discovered what a pain in the ass he was.

“I think that’s done,” Poe said, stepping back. “I can’t believe you’ve figured all this out. I can barely tell what’s supposed to be a shirt.”

Rey pulled a white shirt out of the wardrobe and threw it over, where Poe caught it and pulled it over his head. He finished the look off with a pair of boots and a cravat. “So,” he said, spinning around. “Do I look like Mr. Darcy yet?”

Rey gazed at him with mock scrutiny as he ran a hand through his curls. “No,” she lied.

He did. He _really_ fucking did, the bastard.

Once Rey had settled into the pink dress and pinned up her hair they snuck out of the bedroom, finding whatever house they had landed in thankfully empty. They were able to walk onto the streets of Bath without a problem, where they tried to look as unassuming as possible as they ventured into the streets. They were on a busy intersection of town that held both residences and shops, and they watched as men in top hats and women in bonnets scurried home with the day’s shopping. Twilight was just falling, making everything glow blue around them.

“People in this time sleep early, don’t they?” Poe asked. “If you’re trying to find your man, we better do it before everyone’s at home.”

Oh yeah, Rey thought. Her original goal had slipped her mind for a moment. “I wouldn’t know where to start,” she said.

“Oh come on.”

“Sorry?”

“In every single Regency romance, there’s one key moment where the couple falls in love—and it’s the same every time.”

“What?”

“The _dance_ ,” Poe said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “We have to find a nice ball for you to go to. Then you can meet all the handsome suitors you could dream of.”

Rey raised an eyebrow at him and smiled. “Since when do you know these things, Poe Dameron?”

“Our um…our tv got stuck on PBS for a month once and I ended up watching a lot of _Masterpiece Theater_ because—”

“Uh huh. Convincing story.”

Poe picked up a newspaper off the ground, scanning it for any announcements. “Well,” he said. “If this is from today, we might just be in luck. There’s a ball about to start a few streets away.”

“Perfect,” Rey said, slipping her arm in his. “Let’s go.”

The ball was taking place at a large house in the center of Bath, and luckily for them, it seemed as if it was open to the public. Crowds of people, nearly all of them better dressed than Poe and Rey, giggled and laughed as they walked in through the doors, an orchestra playing a jaunty tune in the distance.

“Let me guess,” Poe said. “You’re going to get hit on by Napoleon.”

“The Emperor Nero incident was a one-time thing,” Rey assured him. “I’m not going to get hit on by anyone famous. I promise.”

“We’ll see.”

They walked farther into the building until they reached what had to be the ballroom. The orchestra was nestled in the corner and about thirty couples were engaged in the current dance number, clapping and turning in unison with the violins.

“One problem,” Poe whispered. “We don’t know how to dance. Not like _this._ ”

“Well, it might not be a problem for me.”

“Excuse me?”

“I don’t have to lead,” Rey shrugged in victory, meeting eyes with a handsome man across the room. Poe watched quietly as the gentleman introduced himself and whisked Rey across the dance floor, both of them beaming. Rey watched the others carefully as the dance began, only just able to keep up so her inexperience could go without notice.

Poe stood in the corner by himself and watched. There was no way he could ask any of these ladies to dance—he didn’t have a clue what to do and would only embarrass them both. He took a glass of a wine from a nearby table and took a sip, resigning himself to the sidelines as Rey danced with one of her potential soulmates.

“Nothing quite like sullenly watching from the corner, is there?”

Poe turned to see a lady standing next to him with a knowing smile on her face. She was perhaps a few years older than him, with intelligent eyes and her brown hair tucked up in a bun.

“I’m tired, that’s all,” Poe answered.

The lady laughed. “A handsome young gentleman standing in the corner and refusing to dance? There must be a good story there.”

“Not really,” Poe said. “I am simply being ignored.”

“The woman in the pink dress?”

“How did you know?”

“She keeps looking over at you,” the lady said. “I’d hardly call that ignorance.”

“I don’t know,” Poe answered. “She seems to find everything I do a nuisance.”

She laughed. “I’ll let you in on a secret,” she said. “Some people can’t stand to be besotted with someone. They’ll do everything they can to fight against it—to protect themselves. They can’t stand the thought of being in love. Of being so vulnerable to someone’s whims.”

“I don’t think so. She’s actually here…looking for a suitor,” Poe said. “And she’s made it quite clear it’s not me.”

“Suitors are easy on the heart,” she said. “Lovers…lovers are a little more of a risk.”

“I…”

“Many people are fine with suitors, but fear passion,” the lady said. “Perhaps you stir her feelings just a bit too much to make her comfortable.”

The lady smiled at him. He noticed then that she was going to great effort to hide her hands from view, that the tips of her fingers were stained with ink.

Then she disappeared into the crowd without another word.

The current dance was coming to an end, and Rey broke away from the gentleman she was dancing with.

What the hell, Poe thought. He’d try his best.

“Hey,” he said as Rey waved goodbye to her latest partner. “Can I have the next dance?”

Rey laughed. “I thought you didn’t know how.”

“Let’s go somewhere else,” Poe whispered.

He took her hand and pulled her laughing into an empty side room. They could still hear the soft strains of the music coming through the walls.

This song was a waltz, slow and languorous and steady. Poe didn’t have a clue how to go about waltzing, but he had been quite the charmer at his high school dances. He knew how to slow dance.

“So,” Poe said, smiling as Rey draped her arms over his shoulders. He placed his hands on her waist and took the lead. “How did you find your suitors?”

“One of them was very charming but very poor,” Rey said, giggling in delight. “Another had seven thousand pounds a year but terrible breath.”

Poe stepped closer. “So no…instantaneous connection with any of them?”

“I’m afraid not,” Rey answered. “I don’t know why I thought this would be so easy.”

“Having a soulmate doesn’t mean there’s not work,” he said. “You’ll find your person.”

Rey thought he looked a little sad. “I hope I didn’t bore you while I was out dancing.”

“Oh, no,” Poe said. “I talked with a woman.”

“I saw,” Rey said, and Poe could have sworn her grip around his shoulders tightened. “Talk about anything exciting?”

Poe blushed and pulled Rey closer to him as he moved them in slow circles. “She had an…interesting theory about you.”

“About me?” she asked, smiling as he spun her around. Poe’s eyes were locked onto hers, something soft burning in them that was new to her. She was dazzled by the way he led them across the wooden floor, the confidence in his every movement.

“Yes,” he said, reaching up to touch her cheek. “She thought—”

They were interrupted by a loud beeping noise coming from Poe’s wrist.

“Shit,” he said, looking at the Kyber watch. “Critically low battery.”

“It’s okay,” Rey said. “I brought a few portable charging packs with me. We need to wait overnight for it to charge though.”

“Ah,” Poe said. He looked out the window to see rain already pouring down into the streets. “We better find a place to stay then.”

***

“So,” Poe said, staring at the sign at the front of the inn. “How much money do we have?”

“Twenty shillings,” Rey answered. They had run here from the ball, both of them already soaked to the bone.

“And the rooms are fifteen shillings,” Poe said. “I guess we’ll have to share.”

“Wait,” Rey said, stopping Poe before he walked through the door. “We have to—”

“Yes?” he asked.

“It’s 1805,” she whispered. “They’re not going to let us share a room if we’re not married.”

Poe grinned mischievously and held out his arm. “Well come on then, Mrs. Dameron.”

“Haha,” Rey said, rolling her eyes. “You’re hilarious.”

They walked through the door, relieved to finally be out of the rain. They were a sorry sight for the innkeeper. The hem of Rey’s pink dress was soaked with mud, and Poe’s white shirt was completely soaked though.

“Quite a um…quite a storm out there,” the man said.

“Yes,” Poe answered. “We’re sorry for not being presentable.” He placed a hand on Rey’s arm and smiled at her warmly. “Could my wife and I perhaps find a room?”

The innkeeper sighed. He didn’t looked particularly happy about taking in these disheveled guests, but money was money. “Third door on the right,” he said, exchanging a key for their shillings.

The room was nicer than either of them had expected. There was a fire already lit, the warmth more than welcome after the rain. There was an array of simple wooden furniture, along with a chamberpot and a washtub and pitcher. A single wooden bed with white sheets stood in the center.

“This is nice,” Poe said, stepping out of his boots. “We better be getting our fifteen shillings worth, whatever that is.” He untied his cravat and pulled his shirt over his head, hanging them up to dry next to the fire.

Rey blushed at the sight him glowing in the firelight. He really did look good.

It was despicable.

“We don’t have any dry clothes to change into,” Rey said.

“Hm,” Poe said. “I guess we can just sleep in our underwear.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“If that’s okay with you? I can—”

“No,” Rey said. “It’s cool. Are we um. Sharing the—”

“I mean, you can have it, I—”

“No, I mean, you don’t want to sleep on the floor, I mean, who knows how many times someone has missed that chamber pot.”

“Well, you shouldn’t sleep on the floor either,” Poe said.

“I guess,” Rey said, looking away. “We can share. If that’s cool with you.”

“If it’s cool with you.”

“I think we can manage.”

After getting her Regency wear off with great effort, Rey slipped under the covers in only her panties and a tank top, and a few minutes later Poe slipped in next to her in only his boxer shorts. The fire gave the room a warm glow, and they leaned away from each other in the bed, both trying to be as respectful as possible given the circumstances.

“Well,” Poe said, staring up at the ceiling. “That was quite a day.”

“It was,” Rey said, snuggling into the blankets. “By morning your Kyber watch should be ready to go and we can head back home.”

“ _Ah_ ,” Poe said. “Indoor plumbing.”

“How mad do you think my dad is gonna be?”

Poe laughed. “Honestly? I think as long as we have good historical notes and we’re both safe, he might be too excited to be mad.”

“That’s a nice thought,” Rey said. “But I doubt it.” She sighed. “Good night, Poe.”

“Goodnight.”

They laid there in silence for a few minutes. Rey’s mind was too active for her to go to sleep—not after all she’d seen today.

—and not when there was a very attractive man inches away from her. Not that, I mean—

Rey turned over. “Poe?”

“Yeah?”

“That woman you were talking to at the dance…you said she had…a theory about me?”

Poe chuckled and turned towards her. “She did. She had a theory about why you’re always giving me such a hard time.”

Rey felt her heart stutter in her chest and panicked. “It’s because you always eat my damn snacks, Poe,” she said, hiding half her face in her pillow. “We’ve been over this.”

“That’s not what she said,” Poe chuckled. He leaned in closer, one of his curls falling over his eyes. “She said that you’re mean to me because you’re attracted to me. That you’re afraid of falling horribly in love with me and you’re trying to stop yourself.”

Rey scoffed. “What nonsense. You _are_ arrogant, aren’t you?”

“Probably.”

“What does this…what does this _woman_ know about love anyway? What makes her such an expert?”

“I don’t know,” Poe said, rolling back over to his side of the bed. “It was just her silly theory.”

Rey stared up at the ceiling, her heart still hammering in her chest. She thought of all the long phone conversations she’d had with Finn about soulmates, the hours they’d spent interpreting her dreams. Rey was more of a logical thinker: she tended to see her visions across time as matter of fact, more literal than figurative. Finn tended to have a more creative approach to his interpretations.

_“Why would you have a soulmate from hundreds of years ago, peanut?” Finn had said. “How on earth would you be compatible with a person like that? And why are the dreams from so many different times and places!? It just can’t be that simple!”_

_“Well, then how do you explain it?”_

_“You’re the daughter of the most famous time-travel engineer in the world. I bet you anything that your soulmate is somehow connected to your dad’s work—some scientist at one of his parties or something. It doesn’t mean you’re going to pull an Outlander on us.”_

Rey’s heart beat faster, the puzzles pieces clicking together with a shocking clarity. The dreams had led her here. Poe had chased after her. She’d been forced to get past her grievances with him, they’d made each other jealous, they’d danced and she’d stared into his eyes and maybe melted a little more than she’d planned to and now—

Oh _fuck._

Rey sat up all of sudden, shocking Poe.

“Are you…are you okay?”

Rey was seething. “No,” she said. “No, I’m not.”

“Can I, um—”

“I hate that woman!” Rey screeched.

“Because…”

“Because she’s right, okay!” Rey yelled, hitting Poe with a pillow. “She’s right! I am attracted to you! I’ve been attracted to you since the day you walked into my kitchen with my dad! You know what it’s like to never be able to relax at home because there’s some hot guy hanging out in your house all the time, and you’re always conscious of whether your hair looks okay or if you sound smart or if he can see you checking out his ass in his stupid… _tight sweatpants!_ ” She stopped for air, her face flushing scarlet. “And of course he’s never going to be interested in _you,_ because he’s gorgeous and a genius and way out of your league, so you have to push it away, but you _can’t,_ because...BECAUSE YOU’RE ALWAYS IN MY FUCKING HOUSE, POE!”

There was a silence as Rey caught her breath.

Poe burst out laughing.

She was seething. “Oh, I’m sure this is just _hilarious_ to you, isn’t it.”

“It is,” Poe said, taking her hand. “Because you’ve given me a lot of hell for nothing, Rey Skywalker. I’ve had a pretty enormous crush on you since that day too.”

“Then why didn’t you—”

“Um,” Poe said. “Luke is my boss and he um…kind of scares me? I had always planned to ask you out once I was done working for him, but then…you were kind of giving me the impression that you couldn’t stand the sight of me, so I let that idea go.”

“Ah.”

“Rey,” he said, picking up her hand again. “I’ve been thinking…your dreams…if we both already have feelings for each other, and the dreams led us here, do you—”

“Yes,” Rey said, wrapping her arms around his bare shoulders. “I’ve been thinking too— _Yes.”_

Poe sighed, running a hand down her cheek. “Oh my god. We’re really—”

“I know.” Rey lifted her hand up to match Poe’s, and they watched as their fingers intertwined in the firelight.

“Can I kiss you?” Poe asked, swiping his thumb across her lips.

“Please,” Rey sighed, falling into his arms. “ _Please.”_

Poe pressed his lips against hers and Rey practically hissed at the contact, pulling Poe back down under the covers with her. She opened for him beautifully, sighing as she dug her hands into his curls. His lips were soft and insistent against hers, even more wonderful than she’d imagined, because _damnit,_ she _had_ imagined this, so many more times than she was willing to admit.

Rey sighed as Poe moved his lips down her neck. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I’ve been so awful to you, and—”

“Later, sweetheart,” he groaned, helping her out of her tank top. “I have a good feeling you’ll find a way to make it up to me.”

Rey giggled as she pressed herself against him, smiling at the feeling of his bare skin. He crawled on top of her, running his hands over her body as they tangled themselves together in the sheets. She could already feel how much he wanted her, the evidence pressing up against her leg.

“Poe,” she gasped out as he kissed her neck. “You didn’t by any chance bring a condom, did you?”

“No. But we can go downstairs and buy—ah,” he said. “It’s still 1805, isn’t it?”

“Yup,” Rey laughed. “But there’s still other ways we can have fun…if you want.”

“Mhm,” Poe said, kissing her again. “I mean, we shouldn’t let those fifteen shillings go to waste, right?”

“Certainly not,” Rey said, pulling the blanket over their heads with a smile. “We’ve got all the time in the world.”

***

They landed back in Luke’s laboratory in a fit of giggles.

“I still can’t believe…” Rey laughed, falling into Poe’s arms.

“ _I know,_ ” he said, nuzzling the top of her head. “But we’ve made it back in one piece.”

“Mhm,” Rey said, pulling Poe in by his shirt collar. “And maybe now we can finish what started back in 1805.”

“Ohh,” Poe grinned. “I like the sound of—”

“What the hell is going on here!?”

They both jumped at the sound of Luke’s voice. He was standing at the entrance of the lab with a scowl on his face.

“Not only do you two look…” he quirked an eyebrow. “…suspiciously cozy, but you also have Kyber watches strapped to your wrists.”

“Dad!” Rey exclaimed, stepping away from Poe. “Did your conference end early?”

“No,” Luke grimaced. “In fact, I drove all the way back here from New York when my computer got readings from the Kyber Watches saying they were in 64 A.D. I don’t suppose you kids know anything about _that_ , do you?”

Poe reached into Rey’s backpack and grabbed the bag of marshmallows, snacking on them nervously. “Um,” he said. “Look, Luke, I can—”

“It’s not Poe’s fault,” Rey said. “Don’t blame him. I—”

Luke still looked furious. “Look,” he said. “I’d be tempted to go back to 64 A.D. too. Who doesn’t want to know how the great fire of Rome started? But—”

A marshmallow fell out of Poe’s mouth. “Wait, the _what?”_


End file.
